Online Journals

Rhema:

Ezekiel 31: 0 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt[s] became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, 11 I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it.

Inspect:

Egypt was the most powerful country at the time. It conquered many countries around it because of its superior technology and military might. It became wealthy and influential. However, it became proud and arrogant. Egypt thought of itself as better than anybody else around. As a result of their pride and arrogance, which God abhors, judgment was brought to them. Pride and arrogance will always lead to destruction if they don’t turn away.

I believe the same thing applies to us. It doesn’t matter how powerful, how good we are, if we become proud and arrogant, God will bring judgment on us because He loves us. God knows that our pride and arrogance will turn me away from Him and start sliding downhill toward destruction. All because He loves me.

Commit:

I need to be take care and guard against my pride. I must think of others as better than I am. I must know that pride and arrogance will seduce me away from the Lord and lead to my destruction.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you love and care for me enough to judge me for my pride and arrogance. Please send your Holy Spirit to warn me whenever I begin to think I am high above others. Help me to repent before incurring your judgment.

In the name of the one who guard me against pride and arrogance, the one who is servant of us all, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Ezekiel 24: 15 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 16 “Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. 17 Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends.”
18 So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do. 19 Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”
20 So I said to them, “A message came to me from the Lord, 21 and I was told to give this message to the people of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will defile my Temple, the source of your security and pride, the place your heart delights in. Your sons and daughters whom you left behind in Judea will be slaughtered by the sword. 22 Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends. 23 Your heads will remain covered, and your sandals will not be taken off. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins. You will mourn privately for all the evil you have done. 24 Ezekiel is an example for you; you will do just as he has done. And when that time comes, you will know that I am the Lord.”
25 Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold—their joy and glory, their heart’s desire, their dearest treasure—I will also take away their sons and daughters. 26 And on that day a survivor from Jerusalem will come to you in Babylon and tell you what has happened. 27 And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Inspect:

The task of the prophet was amazing. We see here that the Lord not only gave Ezekiel a tough message to the people, God caused Ezekiel to deliver the message in a way that no one else can.

The Lord wanted to show the people of Israel how much He loved them. God wanted to help them to feel what He felt that the people were the most precious thing to Him. God wanted the people to feel the sense of lost and frustration when the people turn away and ignore Him without any sense of remorse at all. God wanted the people to know how a father feels when their sons and daughters are taken away.

The Lord wanted the people to understand and feel the depth of His love for them. God wanted to have the people turn back to Him, to come back to His care, protection and provision.

Commit:

I must do two things. I must know and feel the love of my Heavenly Father. I must know how much I hurt Him when I turn away from Him. I may not see the sadness and frustration, but He feels it. I must also be the prophet. I must redeem all the experiences that God has allowed me to have and use it to help the people to understand God’s love for them.. I must take the pain and frustration of going through the consequences of sin or in the trials that develop my character and pass it on to others.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank for showing me your heart. Please help me to not only to know but to feel your heart for me. Help me to know that your love for me is unconditional and unending. You are grieved when I turn away from you. Please help me to tell and show others your heart. Help me to take all that you’ve given me to help others to turn back to you.

In the name of the one who shows me the Father’s heart and will help me to show it to others, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 111: 10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.

Inspect:

We don’t think much of the fear of the Lord now-a-days. We talk about the grace and mercy of the Lord and though it is true is not the total picture of God. God has a love for us that is infinite. His capacity for mercy and grace is infinite. However, so is God’s holiness. God is an absolutely holy. In His holiness is justice. Just as God blesses obedience, He also judges disobedience. If God were not to bring judgment on sin then He would be condoning it and allowing it to destroy us. So God will bring judgment immediately or eventually, the consequences of sin will come so that we might become aware of it and turn back to obedience.

I believe that the fear of this judgment of the Lord is the building blocks to true wisdom. As a motivator, this fear of the Lord’s judgment will push us to finding ways to obey the Lord. It moves us to humbly work with the Holy Spirit to discover ways to submit ourselves to God’s path. I believe this effort, this problem solving effort of how to remain obedient to the Lord will grow wisdom. This is true wisdom, wisdom that is essential in bringing life and avoiding destruction. This not the wisdom that is motivated by greed or petty pride, this is wisdom that is motivated by the fear of judgment both now and eternal. The results of this wisdom is abundant life both here and eternal. This true wisdom is really the only kind that matters.

And the only way to get this true wisdom? It is to fear the Lord and obeying His commandments in every situation.

Commit:

I need to humble myself and fear the Lord. I must not let my pride make me think that somehow judgment won’t apply to me, that I am special. I am not. If I sin, disobey the Lord, I will be judged, I will suffer the consequences of my sin. So I must humbly work with the Holy Spirit to obey the Lord whenever I can.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing how to gain true wisdom. Please send your Holy Spirit to put the fear of you in me. Help me to fear your judgment so that I might obey you in every situation. Help me to keep my pride from thinking that somehow I would be exempted from judgment that comes from disobeying you.

In the name of the one who will help me to fear the Father’s judgment and help to obey His commands in every situation, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Revelation 7: 13 Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”
Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in[a] the great tribulation.[b] They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne
and serve him day and night in his Temple.
And he who sits on the throne
will give them shelter.
16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty;
they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
17 For the Lamb on the throne[c]
will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Inspect:

Who can stand before God’s throne? We don’t want to discuss the various ways people think about the sequence of events in the end times, but want to consider what it takes to be able to stand before the Lord and to never be hungry or thirsty because the Lord himself will take care of them.

This scripture describes that these standing before the Lord have died in the great tribulation. I believe the application to us is that we too need to spiritually die in times of tribulations. We must not try to survive with our own efforts and experience. Instead I believe we need to put our trust in the Lord and do it His way. When we obey the Lord, we are able to tap into His knowledge, His experience and His power to overcome any tribulation. However, if we rely on our limited efforts and experience, we inevitably will come to a tribulation that overwhelms our efforts and is beyond our previous experience.

These are described as wearing robes made white by the blood of the lamb. I believe this means that they have humbled themselves and wear robes that don’t honor themselves, but honor the sacrifice that Jesus made, that we might be made clean. They have washed their own robes, no one else did it for them. They have accepted responsibility for their sins and will do what it takes to get them clean. They did not try and clean their robes with any soap or cleaner, instead they humbled themselves and accepted the sacrifice of the Lord.

As a result they get to do what they love most in their lives, that is to serve the Lord. Their love for the Lord motivates them to be completely satisfied to do nothing else. And the Lord will honor that love. He promises that they will never be hungry or thirsty, because He will provide for them. He promises that they will never be hurt, because He will protect them. He promises to care for them addressing every sorrow and sadness, bringing them to a place of restoration and renewal.

We need to have the same heart as those standing in white robes and serving before the Lord. Our motivation is to love Him who first love us and not the blessing.

Commit:

I want to be in a white robe. I want to humble myself and have God deal with all of my uncleanness. I want to have Him forgive all my sins and erase all of its marks. Then I want to stand and serve Him continuously.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me what it takes to be able to stand before you and serve you. Please reveal my sins and help me to turn away from them and forgive them. Give me the heart to be contented to serve you constantly. Thank you for your promise to provide all of my needs, to protect me and to restore me.

In the name of the one who’s blood was shed so that I can be cleansed, the one who will care for me, Jesus!

Amen

Rhema:

Ezekiel 15: 1 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? 3 Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? 4 No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. 5 Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!
6 “And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned. 7 And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Inspect:

Are you a vine or a tree? My first reaction to this scripture was “What is wrong with being a vine?” I was trying to rationalize that a vine has redeeming values of its own i.e. a vine bears fruits that a tree wouldn’t or couldn’t. After looking up a Bible Commentary for some insight, I understand the comparison is between a vine that is NOT bearing fruit and a tree that is NOT bearing fruit. It now makes sense to understand that a tree that doesn’t bear fruit has some value i.e. it can be used for long burning fuel, it can be used to build useful things. However, a vine that does not bear fruit is not useful as a long-burning fuel, nor is it useful to build things. Therefore it is to be discarded.

It becomes clearer when we remember that Christ taught in the New Testament that in order for a vine to bear fruit it must be attached to the source, if not, no fruit. The children of Israel disconnected themselves from the Lord by disobeying Him and even going to worship other gods and idols. As a result they could not bear fruit. This made them useless. They could not be used for any other purpose.

What a sobering thought for us! If we aren’t attached to God through a strong relationship with Him, we cannot bear fruit. We cannot be blessing to ourselves and to others. As a result, we have no value. Our lives become without purpose. However, if we are faithful to attach ourselves to the Lord through obeying His word, and praying and sharing life with other Christians, we find ourselves bearing the fruit of the Spirit. By delivering love, joy, peace, patience and the other fruits we bring value to ourselves and to others. A vine that bears fruit then has purpose and is not burned.

Commit:

I must attach myself to the Lord so that I can be fruitful. I must realize that my purpose is to bring the benefits of the fruit of the Holy Spirit to others. This so that they can appreciate and desire a relationship with God so that they too can be blessed to be a blessing.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me that I must be fruitful to be useful. Please help me to remain attached to you through the reading of your Word, through prayer, through worship and fellowship. Don’t let me become unattached and fruitless because of my pride.

In the name of the one who helps me to bring the blessing of the fruit of the Holy Spirit to others, Jesus!

Amen.